The RSVP Form block collects free sign-ups on an event page. Visitors leave their name and email, HappenBoard records them against the event, and the confirmation email goes out on its own. This guide covers placing the block, its options, and what happens when the seats run out.
Add the block to an event page
The block reads the event it sits on, so it has to be somewhere that has an event in context: inside the content of a single event, or inside your single event template. Dropped anywhere else, the editor shows a placeholder asking you to move it into an event template.
- Open the event from HappenBoard → Events, or open your single event template in the Site Editor.
- Insert the RSVP Form block. It is listed under the HappenBoard category in the inserter.
- Update or publish.
Putting the block in the template gives every event a sign-up form at once, which is usually what you want. Building a single event page walks through that layout.
Form options
Select the block, then open Form options in the block sidebar.
- Show remaining seats: on by default. Adds a line to the form counting the seats still free. It only appears when the event has a capacity, because with no capacity there is nothing to count.
- Allow multi-seat RSVP: off by default. Adds a Number of seats field so one person can book for several people in one submission.
- Maximum seats per RSVP: appears only when multi-seat is on. Anything from 1 to 20, with 4 as the default.
- Success message: your own wording for the message shown after a successful sign-up. Leave it blank to keep the built-in one.
The block also accepts the standard color, spacing and typography controls, so it can be styled to match the rest of the page without any CSS.
What the visitor fills in
- Your name, required.
- Email, required.
- Number of seats, only when multi-seat sign-ups are enabled.
- The RSVP button.
Submitting does not reload the page. The form is sent in the background, the fields are locked, and the confirmation message appears in place. If something is refused, the reason is shown in the same spot and the visitor can correct it and try again.
A few hidden fields also travel with the form. They are there to stop bots, and they are covered in protecting your forms from spam.
Capacity and the sold-out message
Capacity belongs to the event, not to the block. In the event editor, open the Capacity panel and set Maximum attendees. Zero means unlimited, which is the default.
HappenBoard counts committed seats as the total of the seat quantities of every attendee whose status is Going. Cancelled, declined and waitlisted rows do not take up seats. Capacity and available seats goes into how that count is displayed elsewhere.
- While seats remain, the form renders normally.
- When no seats remain, the block replaces the entire form with a sold-out notice. There is nothing left to submit.
- If someone asks for more seats than are left, the submission is refused and the message states how many are still available.
There is no automatic waitlist
This is worth being clear about. Once an event is full, the form simply stops accepting sign-ups. Nobody is queued, nobody is emailed, and no seat is passed on automatically when an attendee cancels.
A Waitlist status does exist, but you apply it by hand from the Attendees screen. If you want a waiting list, you have to run it yourself: collect names another way, then move people to Going as seats free up. Managing attendees explains where those controls are.
One sign-up per email address
The same email address cannot hold two active sign-ups for the same event. A second attempt is refused and the message points the visitor back to their confirmation email.
Cancelled and declined rows are ignored by that check, so someone who cancelled earlier can sign up again with the same address.
After a sign-up
- A row appears on HappenBoard → Attendees with the status Going.
- The confirmation email goes out immediately, and a reminder is scheduled, as long as those are switched on in the email settings.
- The personal cancellation link is put in that confirmation email and nowhere else. It is never returned to the browser, so the visitor cannot get it from the page itself.
The event has to be published for the endpoint to accept anything. Sign-ups on a draft or a private event are rejected.
If HappenBoard Pro is active you can also add your own questions to this form, which is covered in creating custom fields.